


The Wheel

by Rakshi



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-04
Updated: 2011-12-04
Packaged: 2017-10-26 22:10:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakshi/pseuds/Rakshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elijah wants to ride the wheel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wheel

**Author's Note:**

> This is from the 'Fun At The Fair' challenge from the wonderful Waymeet community.

"C'mon, man!" Elijah coaxed, pulling excitedly on Sean's sleeve. "It'll be fun!"

"Elijah, I dunno," Sean replied doubtfully, staunchly resisting the hand tugging hard on his jacket, wondering as he did which one of them sounded most like a whiny nine-year-old.

"Seaaan," Elijah continued, tugging harder, pulling him forward. " Come ON!"

"Lij, wait a minute," Sean begged, dragging him to a halt. "Listen. Let me explain."

Elijah gave a long-suffering sigh and stopped. "Fine. Explain."

Sean rested his hands on Elijah's shoulders and tugged him gently closer. "I'm a little scared of heights," he confessed somewhat sheepishly. "And those things," he said, tilting his head toward the huge double Ferris wheel, "are dangerous."

"Are you turning into Safety Hobbit again?" Elijah asked with a quick grin.

"Some shady character who sleeps in an equipment box could have put that thing together. Do you know what he was doing last night? Maybe he was drunk!"

"Maybe he wasn't!" Elijah replied. "Maybe he's an upright, responsible guy who takes pride in his carney job!"

Sean studied his feet, considering. His face was screwed into a pose of intense deliberation.

"And maybe," Elijah continued, "maybe you're being a bit prejudiced and unfair."

"Lij, I didn't mean— "

"And maybe," Elijah interrupted, clearly getting into the part, "carney workers across the land will hear of your piss-poor attitude and rise up in righteous fucking indignation! And—and across America," he intoned, painting a magnificent vista with his hand—"across America, Sean, thousands of little children will cry because you made their Ferris wheels stop turning!"

Sean regarded him dubiously.

"You never know," Elijah said, grinning again.

"I bought you cotton candy," Sean said, pointing.

"I want to ride the Ferris wheel," Elijah informed him flatly.

"Merry-go-round?" Sean proposed.

" Ferris wheel."

"Alone?" Sean asked hopefully.

Elijah said nothing, but his stare spoke volumes.

"Elijaaaah..." Sean began again, clearly whining now.

"Let's go," Elijah said, pulling him forward. "I'll pay."

"Damned right you'll pay," Sean rumbled, trailing behind him with obvious reluctance. "There's no way in hell that I'm paying to do this."

Elijah quickly bought a pair of tickets and dragged Sean forward. "C'mon, Astin. It's loading. Let's go!"

Sean shuffled to the platform then stumbled to a halt. "Umm, Elijah..." He hesitated and swallowed hard, pointing at the car. "It's—it's swinging."

The ride operator lifted the safety bar and then held the seat steady. "There!" Elijah said, quickly seating himself. "It's not swinging now. C'mon, Sean."

Sean drew in a deep breath and glanced at the ride operator, who was still holding the car steady and looking at him somewhat sympathetically. When Sean still didn't budge, the man made a gesture with his hand as if urging him forward. Sean could hear Elijah giggling in the background and, sensing that his 'Wimp-o-Meter' was rapidly approaching 'infinity', he stifled a moan and moved slowly forward seating himself tentatively beside Elijah. The operator lowered the safety bar in front of them and stepped back, causing the seat to gently rock. Sean gasped and grabbed Elijah's arm in fright. "Fuck!" he blurted.

"Relax," Elijah urged, patting Sean's hand. "Have some cotton candy." He held the spun candy helpfully toward Sean who shook his head decisively, looking utterly terrified.

"Seanie," Elijah said soothingly. "It's fine. These rides have to be inspected. It's totally safe!"

"Riiiight," Sean moaned skeptically, shaking his head even harder.

The Ferris wheel began to turn, maneuvering into place to load the next car. Sean gave a short, gasping cry and clutched Elijah's arm even tighter; the other hand gripped the side of the car in white-knuckled fear. It was clear he was scared to death, and Elijah began to feel a bit guilty about insisting that Sean do this.

"Hey," he purred in a low, soft voice. "It's OK, Seanie. It's a short ride." He took Sean's hand, murmuring soothingly to him. "Just relax. Close your eyes. It'll be fine. It'll feel like you're floating." He could hear Sean drawing in deep breaths and knew he was trying to calm himself. Elijah gripped Sean's hand tighter. He had no irrational fears such as the ones that occasionally haunted Sean and had no idea how to relate to his lover's anxiety. It seemed to him that anytime Sean had to put his safety in someone else's hands, he grew anxious. He doesn't trust people, Elijah thought, then reconsidered. He doesn't trust what he can't control.

But at the same time, Elijah pondered, Sean was utterly fearless when it came to defending or protecting the people he loved. At times like those he was heedless of personal danger, mindless of any potential damage to himself. During the shooting of Lord of the Rings Elijah had called Sean his 'Lionheart' in recognition of the countless times Sean had risen to his defense, sheltering him from cold.... demanding a break in the shooting when he could see that Elijah was exhausted... refusing to do a scene when safety measures weren't up to his unrelenting standards. Sean had protected him again and again with a fierce and unflinching courage. Elijah had absolutely no doubt that Sean would instantly lay down his life to keep him from harm.

And yet, Elijah thought, he's scared of a Ferris wheel. Elijah tightened his grip on Sean's hand, feeling an aching sadness well up in his chest. I hate it that he feels afraid of something that could be fun for him.

The wheel began to move in earnest now, and since it was a double Ferris wheel it moved in a large circle as big as the two wheels combined while each wheel also rotated separately on its own axis.

For one full revolution of the wheel Sean showed no sign of relaxing. His hold on Elijah's hand was almost painfully tight while the other still gripped the side of the car. Anytime the car rocked even slightly he gasped in fright. Elijah now officially felt terrible. He had to ease Sean's fear. "Hey," he murmured softly. "Do something for me?"

Sean glanced his way and nodded, biting his lower lip.

Feeling encumbered by the cotton candy in his hand, Elijah laid the nearly empty cone on the floor of their car. "Look up, Seanie," he urged in a gentle voice. "Hold my hand and look up at the stars with me."

He saw Sean tentatively tip his head back to squint up. "Aren't they beautiful?" Elijah asked quietly, gripping Sean's hand tighter, using his other hand to gently stroke Sean's arm.

Sean's eyes opened wider and he seemed to relax just a bit. "It's so wonderful for me to see this with you, Sean," Elijah said soothingly. "It's so wonderful to see something this beautiful with you by my side... you know?"

Sean gazed quietly up at the stars for a long moment as the Ferris wheel spun and turned. They twinkled above him, their light mingling with the multicolored lights of the wheel on which he spun. He felt dizzy then. Dizzy with fear. Dizzy from the beauty all around him. And dizzy with love for the friend who sat so near him. "It is beautiful," he said finally, turning to gaze into Elijah's eyes. "And it's wonderful for me to see it with you too, Lij." He sighed. "I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the ass."

"You're not!" Elijah said firmly. "I shouldn't have pressed you."

The wheel slowly started its downward rotation. "Close your eyes, Sean." Elijah told him. "Feel how cool is it when we go down. Almost like being weightless for a second." He still gripped Sean's hand tightly, but slid his other hand slowly under Sean's T-shirt, caressing his stomach. "Feel it?" Elijah asked. "Feel it right there?"

"I do!" Sean said, somewhat more cheerfully, and Elijah grinned. "I feel it!" Sean said, and now he was grinning too.

"We’re astronauts!" Elijah crowed as they spun earthward. His hand still moved under Sean's T-shirt, gently caressing the smooth, firm muscles of Sean's stomach and chest.

Sean released his iron grip on Elijah's hand and wound his arm around Elijah's shoulders. In one smooth motion he pulled Elijah tight against his side. He was still nervous, but the unreasoning panic had left him. He felt Elijah's hand moving against his body, and that too left him dizzy. He released the side of the car and cupped Elijah's face in his other hand. "Thank you," he whispered, then captured Elijah's mouth with hungry need, feeling the giddy euphoria of his desire merging with the spinning of the wheel.

Elijah laughed against his mouth then leaned back. "Look, Sean!" he urged, taking his hand from under Sean's shirt and pointing to the lights of the fair which receded beneath them as the wheel rose once again. "Look how beautiful the lights are!"

Sean felt the wind on his face as he gazed about him in amazement. It was beautiful! He felt a sense of awed exhilaration as the wheel rose high into the air. He understood now why they called them 'thrill rides'. A tingling shiver electrified every atom in his body as he turned once again with eager longing to the one he loved, gathering him close and kissing him. Sensation flowed through him as they kissed, and he felt he was a lightning rod, gathering to himself all the vibrant joy this moment had to offer.

He felt the wheel slowing, and turned to look down. Below him the operator had brought the lower wheel to a halt, and the first passengers were about to disembark. Their turn would come soon... but not yet. They were on the higher wheel and were still far above the fairgrounds. As each group of passengers got off, another group seated themselves and the Ferris wheel rotated slowly once again.

"It'll be over soon," Elijah said softly. He was fearful that stopping and starting like this at the very top of the wheel's rotation would throw Sean back into another panic. But the arm around his shoulders was strong and steady.

"I'm fine," Sean said, smiling at him. "Oh, I don't like being up this high. But I'm not afraid anymore." The arm about Elijah tightened and Sean kissed him again. "You provide a marvelous distraction, Mr. Wood."

Elijah felt Sean's lips slide down the slope of his throat as the wheel shuddered forward yet again. "Mmm...," Elijah moaned softly.

"Mmm, yourself," Sean murmured against his skin. "You ever made love on Ferris wheel?"

Elijah laughed. His hand, which had been resting against Sean's side, now dropped to press firmly against the growing arousal beneath his jeans. "Well, I can see you're ready for it. But do you really think that's a good idea?"

Sean chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I suppose I could wait 'til we get home if you insist." He felt Elijah's head nestle trustingly against his shoulder and tightened his arms around his lover as the wheel moved slowly forward, lowering them to the earth again. He gazed at twinkling lights of the midway below them and thought how different they looked from this height. At ground level the midway had seemed garish and the lights were an obvious lure to tempt naive customers into playing carney games. But from high on the Ferris wheel it seemed a luminous fairyland that glittered with a soft and magical glow. It reminded him of the Lothlorien set, and Sean was in awe of the beauty he saw below him.

He kissed Elijah's hair, very much aware that he owed his ability to appreciate the beauty of this moment to the beauty that lived within in the young man he held so close in his arms. "Thank you," he whispered again. "You helped me see the joy in this, Elijah."

Elijah gave a short, ironic laugh. "You mean I bullied you into doing this without giving a thought to how it might affect you?" He sighed and looked apologetically into Sean's eyes. "I really am sorry, Seanie."

"I'm not," Sean said firmly. "I never would have done it otherwise, and I would have missed out on a great experience."

Their car was slowly approaching the ground. Only two or three cars were ahead of them. Sean could see the ride operator helping the other passengers off. He turned to Elijah and grinned. "Wanna go again?"

Elijah laughed. "No," he said firmly. "We'll go again another time. Right now, Astin, I want to go home. There's another kind of thrill that I'm more interested in at the moment."

They sat snuggled together until their turn came to disembark. After leaving the car they walked in contented silence along the midway with their arms still linked. At the parking lot entrance Sean turned and looked back at the Ferris wheel. It twinkled with lights as its great wheels rose and rotated against the velvet black sky. He smiled and bent to kiss Elijah tenderly. "It was amazing, baby."

"You'll feel something even more amazing once we get home," Elijah told him, tugging him toward the car. "C'mon, Sean."

"Perception is all," Sean mused, allowing himself to be guided to their car, while still gazing back at the huge Ferris wheel.

"It is, huh," Elijah replied. Then, standing beside the driver's door, he fumbled in Sean's jacket pocket for the keys. "Well, tell me professor," he said, handing them to Sean. "How do you perceive this night ending?"

Sean wound his arm around Elijah's neck. "A lot like what we just experienced. An incredible, magical high."

"That it was," Elijah agreed, grinning. "And we can only hope we get home to relive the experience before anyone asks you to explain the cotton candy all over your crotch."

Sean looked down at the sticky pink traces decorating the crotch of his jeans then back up at Elijah, his gaze accusatory. "Get in the car," he growled.

"Perception is all," Elijah reminded him brightly. Then, laughing together, they drove away into the night, headed for home.


End file.
